by Natalie Ogbourne | Dec 30, 2016 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
Gravel crunched under the tires as I made my way through early morning’s darkness down the lane, away from my home in the country toward a hospital in the city. Des Moines has six general hospitals and I could picture and plot a route to every one of them. Every one...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Dec 4, 2016 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
Our headlights cut through the blinding darkness of the December night, illuminating the country highway as my littlest girl and I made our way home from church. “Look at the pret-ty lights, Mom-my,” she called from her car seat in the back of the van. “Do you see the...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Nov 17, 2016 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
Gratitude. It doesn’t always come naturally. grat i tude noun the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Along with the continual quest to lift my eyes so I can see, I’ve been trying to acknowledge life’s...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Nov 3, 2016 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
One fall, when I attended the University of Iowa, I went a few weeks between visits home. When my parents drove me to school, the fields were full and green. When they brought me home, the fields stood empty. Even the combines and trucks had gone home. Growing up...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Aug 25, 2016 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
As the sun set over the baseball field at the end of a sweltering July day, I sat in the stands and tried not to long for fall. Extreme heat is kind of my kryptonite, so I found myself fighting to not wish the light of summer away over a little...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Jun 25, 2016 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
Eight years ago, two months after we landed in a new place, spring unfolded like the twelve days of Christmas, each morning bestowing blossoms of a new color. Crocus peeked over the winter’s covering of melting snow. Creeping phlox draped over the rock wall and tidy...